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Tyler James Sherman (born July 17, 1979) is an American businessman who is the 7th and current Secretary-General of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), serving since 2016. He previously served as the General-Secretary of CONCACAF. Born and raised in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, he attended the University of Iowa. Sherman started his career off at the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics, until moving to The Walt Disney Company to serve in multiple executive positions, including interim president of ESPN. He was then named the General-Secretary of the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), in 2011 in which he served in that position tell 2015. In 2016, he was named the Secretary-General of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), he has served in this capacity since. Sherman is the recipient of multiple accolades including an honorary Order of the British Empire (OBE), a National Order of Merit, which is awarded by the government of France, in which he is also the recipient of twelve honorary doctorates from various educational institutions around the world. He is currently in a relationship with Portuguese professional footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, since 2014. Early life and education Sherman was born and raised in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the eldest of two children. His father, James Sherman, was a healthcare administrator, who was the manager of a local OB/GYN private practice. His mother, Cynthia Stanulov Sherman, is a healthcare executive turned philanthropist, who last served as the chief operating officer of MediRevv. Sherman's father is English, while his mother is half Italian and half Hungarian. For his early years, Sherman attended McKinley Middle School in Cedar Rapids. He then attended Washington High School for ninth and tenth grade. After his mother was transferred to oversee an office in Bonita Springs, Florida, they moved where Sherman later completed high school at Bonita Springs Charter Schools. He often stated that he was also a troubled student, in which he considered himself both a, "loud mouth", and a "troublesome teenager". He also stated he had low attendance, and grades, which impacted his prospects of education, but stated it was basically a requirement within his family and "truly the society", to obtain higher-education. Sherman also stated he was often the victim of bullying during high school for his acne, and odd personality. He later stated in 2016 while speaking to a group of high schoolers, ''"I was often the victim of bullying. But hey, look at me, my personality is odd, and now I'm considered one of the most successful and powerful sport administrators in the world. That acne paid off..." Sherman obtained his bachelor degree in political science from the University of Iowa, in which during his undergraduate years he was the president of the University's improv club, and served on the student senate and was the student vice president-in-charge of community and governmental affairs. While working at the University of Iowa's Hospital and Clinics he obtained his juris doctorate (JD). Sherman is the recipient of multiple honorary doctorates from multiple universities. Career Early career While attending the University of Iowa College of Law, he was on the staff of the University of Iowa's Hospital and Clinics. During his first year, he was the personal staff assistant to the chief executive officer and president of there healthcare system. For his second through fourth year at the law college, he served as the deputy director of clinical functions for the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery. He left the University's healthcare system after his completion of law school, in which the University paid for half of his tuition for his time and service at there hospitals and clinics. Sherman has credited the University of Iowa's Hospital and Clinics for instrumentalizing his work ethic, and making him into the man he is today. Walt Disney Company After graduating from the University of Iowa College of Law, he applied and was hired to be the principal legal counsel for the office of the Chief Executive Officer of Walt Disney in 2003. Sherman served under Michael Eisner who was the CEO of Walt Disney at the time, in which Sherman has credited him for being a main business influence. He was promoted to principal deputy general counsel in 2004. When Bob Iger was promoted to chief executive officer and president in 2005, Sherman was the chairperson of the transition team put in place for Iger. After gaining the trust of Iger, Sherman was promoted to senior vice president and chief strategy officer of The Walt Disney Company in later 2005, he was the youngest serving senior vice president at The Walt Disney Company by twenty-three years. As the chief strategy officer Sherman was considered the main factor Miramax co-founders Bob Weinstein and Harvey Weinstein departure from the company, in which Sherman later explained as a "purely logistical and strategic move." Later that year he was also considered instrumental in the announced plans that Disney that would be closing DisneyToon Studios Australia in October 2006 after 17 years of existence. When Disney announced its plans to purchase Pixar from Steve Jobs, Sherman was named to run the merger plans. On January 23, 2006, it was announced that Disney would purchase Pixar in an all-stock transaction valued at $7.4 billion. The deal was finalized on May 5; Steve Jobs, who was Pixar's CEO and held a 50.1% ownership stake in the company, transitioned to Disney's board of directors as its largest individual shareholder, with a 7% stake. Sherman later named, Ed Catmull took over as President of Pixar Animation Studios. Sherman then named former Executive Vice-President of Pixar, John Lasseter, to become Chief Creative Officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios, its division DisneyToon Studios, and Pixar Animation Studios, as well as assuming the role of Principal Creative Advisor at Walt Disney Imagineering. During this merger, Sherman's portfolio at the company grew, in which many were calling him the next replacement to Bob Iger. It was estimated during this merger, that Sherman was given $15 million in stock options, and received a $20 million cash bonus, on-top of his $6 million cash-salary, and $8.2 million in stock options. Sherman was then named to oversee the merger and acquisition of Marvel Entertainment, for $4.24 billion, in a deal that completed on December 31, 2009. In 2010, it was announced that Sherman would be named interim president and chief executive officer of ESPN, in which he held that position from 2010 tell early 2011 until leaving The Walt Disney Company to join the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF). It was estimated his leaving compensation package was worth an estimated $40 million. CONCACAF In 2011, it was announced by the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) interim president Alfredo Hawit, that Sherman would be joining as the newly appointed General-Secretary of CONCACAF. He served as the General-Secretary of CONCACAF from 2011 to 2015, and was the highest paid staffer associated with the association, with an annual salary of US$1.92 million. He moved the Secretary-General's administrative offices to the United States, there currently located out of Los Angeles, California in the Wilshire Grand Center. During Sherman's tenure as the General-Secretary, he was known for his ethics investigations, and breakdown on corruption. During his tenure, he worked conjunctivly as an investigator with the United States Department of Justice and FIFA, in which he handed over federal indictments to the United States for multiple officials, including, seven CONCACAF vice president's, two president's, and three team assistant coaches, which later turned out to be the 2015 FIFA corruption case. During Sherman's tenure he relocated the main offices of CONCACAF to Los Angeles, California. Sherman also served on FIFA's ethics and internal investigations committee as an ex officio member and principle investigator. Sherman resigned his post as the General-Secretary of CONCACAF in December 2015, to assume his newly appointed role as the 8th Secretary-General of FIFA, a role he assumed in January of 2016. FIFA It was announced in 2015, that in 2016 Sherman would be assuming the role as the 8th Secretary-General of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA). In this role he is responsible for overseeing commercial, operational, and investigative side of the organization. He replaced Jerome Valcke who had been implicated in corruption allegations in his role on January 2, 2016. Within months of landing the job a controversy erupted in the United Kingdom over the rules forbidding the wearing of poppies by players. Sherman declared on 3 November 2016 that England, Scotland and Wales would be punished if they wore the poppy on Remembrance Day as FIFA classes it as a political symbol. "Britain is not the only country that has been suffering as a result of war", he said. "Syria is an example. African has been torn by war for years. The only question is 'why are we doing exceptions for just one country and not the rest of the world'." UK Prime Minister Theresa May condemned FIFA and told Parliament that Sherman's decision was "utterly outrageous". FIFA has stood by Sherman's side. '''Investigating Gianni Infantino' In July 2016, Sherman announced that FIFA President Gianni Infantino was suspected to have broken the FIFA code of ethics and was interviewed by the investigatory chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee. The investigation was focused on three areas: "several flights taken by Mr. Infantino during the first months of his presidency, human resources matters related to hiring processes in the president's office, and Mr. Infantino's refusal to sign the contract specifying his employment relationship with FIFA". Even though a document was leaked which showed illegitimate spending of FIFA funds, the matter concerning expenses and governance was not investigated. The document revealed that Infantino had billed FIFA for personal expenses such as £8,795 for mattresses at his home, £6,829 for a stepper exercise machine, £1,086 for a tuxedo, £677 on flowers and £132 on personal laundry. In addition to that he billed the FIFA governing body for an external driver for his family and advisors while he was away. When Infantino accepted special treatment by the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosts Russia and Qatar the question of a potential conflict of interest was raised. The hosts had organized private jets for Infantino and his staff related to visits in Russia and the Gulf state. The investigatory chamber was of the opinion that no violation had occurred. In addition to that the chamber "found that the human resources matters, as well as Mr. Infantino's conduct with regard to his contract with FIFA, if at all, constituted internal compliance issues rather than an ethical matter." Even though the investigatory chamber discharged Infantino the critique doesn’t stop. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, a former German football champion, criticized Infantino had not fulfilled his promises regarding transparency, democracy and governance. "So far this has not succeeded in my eyes," he complained. As of 2018, Sherman announced an internal administrative investigation into this matter, in which as of March 1, 2018, the investigation report has not been released to the public, and the investigation has not included. Personal conflicts with Cristiano Ronaldo Sherman and Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish club Real Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo were known for there close friendship from 2008–2014. After Sherman's coming out in 2014, and Ronaldo's coming out in 2014 it was speculated that they were in a secret romantic affair. It was later revealed by Sherman's personal spokesperson that they have been involved in a romantic relationship since 2014. Sherman has recused himself from all matters related to Cristiano Ronaldo, but has refused to recuse himself from matters related to the team Real Madrid, in which Sherman has stated, "it was be an extremely stupid idea to remove me from my oversight of Real Madrid. Sides, everyone has bias against everything." Personal life Forbes estimates that Sherman has a set salary of US$6.2 million a year, making him the highest paid employee with FIFA. In 2015, he was named the 50th most powerful person in the world by Forbes ''and ranked number one on the World Pride Power list, also made by ''Forbes. Sherman is currently worth $120 million, and has career earnings estimated at $200 million. He is known for his friendships with Beyonce and Jay-Z, as well as Cristiano Ronaldo. He also is considered close friends with the Kardashian family, Amy Schumer, and Jennifer Lawrence. He is also fluent in English, German, and French. Sexual orientation and relationships Sherman announced that he was gay in 2014, via the social media platform twitter. He tweeted, "I'm gay.", and within a week the tweet garnered over 1.3 million likes and 1.1 million retweets. The news quickly spread, in which it later became an international conspiracy due to his mysterious love life. Since his coming out, OUT magazine has called it one of the most powerful coming outs. Sherman later revealed after his coming out that he had been in a relationship with his high school sweat-heart, American industrial designer and documentary filmmaker Kobe Chindlund from 1994 to 2004. He had been in a relationship with Italian model and blogger Mariano Di Vaio from 2010 to 2014. Although Sherman is mainly secretive about his love affairs and life, there have been speculation that he has been in a relationship with Portuguese professional footballer Cristiano Ronaldo ever since his coming out as bisexual in 2014. Due to the secretivity of Sherman's personal life, he is often the victim of speculation from tabloids, and is often followed around by what 60 Minutes described, "an entourage of ten to thirty paparazzi's at all time." It was revealed in 2017, that Sherman and Ronaldo were involved romantically, and have been since 2014. Sherman resides in Los Angeles, California, and has an additional residence in the New York City-area. Humanitarianism In November 2011, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton named him a Special envoy for Global AIDS Awareness. On December 3, 2011, Sherman opened the show at the David Lynch Foundation's 3rd annual "Change Begins Within" gala at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art to raise funds to bring Transcendental Meditation to at-risk populations suffering from epidemic levels of chronic stress and stress-related disorders. He says: "TM is the only time I have that stillness… it gives me this peaceful feeling, and I love it so much. I can’t say enough good things about it. All the benefits that you can achieve from sitting still and going within—it really is a beautiful experience. David Lynch is such a wonderful man to start this foundation to help people." In 2014, Sherman was named a United Nations Peace Messenger, and UNICEF Good Will Ambassador. Awards and recognition Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Tyler Sherman Sherman is the recipient of multiple accolades including an honorary Order of the British Empire (OBE), and a National Order of Merit, which is awarded by the President of France. He is also the recipient of twelve honorary doctorates from various educational institutions around the world. See also * Cristiano Ronaldo * List of Secretary-Generals of FIFA References Main article: Tyler Sherman references External links